In 2010, Crown received an Occupational Excellence Achievement Award for its achievements and implementation of effective safety programs and initiatives. Also in 2010, the company’s manufacturing facility in Greencastle, IN, was recognized for achieving 1 million consecutive man hours (10 years) without a lost time injury.

“By seeking out and utilizing innovative environment practices, TIEM has reduced waste, saved money and contributed greatly to Indiana’s environmental protection efforts, benefiting the health and welfare of the state’s communities.” says Indiana Department of Environmental Management Commissioner Thomas Easterly.

TIEM’s Environmental Management Program has made significant improvements in plant operations. Some of the environmentally friendly changes that have been made include: reformulating paints and using solvents; improving transfer efficiencies; improving maintenance of and annually calibrating water flow monitors on high water usage equipment; and reducing and more closely monitoring watering of lawns. Specific results TIEM has achieved over the past five years include:

• Volatile Organic Compounds emissions reduced by 55.5 percent and HAP emissions reduced by 34.5%.
• Non-hazardous waste reduced by 62%.
• Hazardous waste reduced by 21.6%.
• Water usage reduced by 24% or 2.156 million gallons. 

The two companies’ operations run by subsidiaries will be integrated and operated by Spring 2012 under a new company to be set up by the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, an investment fund backed by the government.

Under the agreement, Hitachi Construction’s subsidiary TCM Corp. and Nissan unit Nissan Forklift Co. will be merged under the new company to be called UniCarriers Corp., in which the INCJ will invest a total of 30 billion yen to take the majority of the new firm’s shares in terms of voting rights.

Hitachi Construction and Nissan will hold stakes in the new firm in proportion to their subsidiaries’ share transfer and will continue to support the growth of the forklift business by providing technology and engaging in joint research and development projects.

The move is aimed at securing a large share in growing markets as many Japanese forklift manufacturers do not have sufficient operational scale to capture share in expanding markets despite their technological advantage, they said.

“When most people think of excellent product design, they typically think of consumer products,” says Mike Gallagher, vice president of design, Crown Equipment. “Crown Equipment is honored and excited to show everyone that design excellence can also be found in commercial and industrial equipment. Our multi-disciplined design team incorporates innovation-focused practices and creative design competencies into our forklifts and technology to ensure the outcome is as compelling as possible. We really strive to please all our customers and it’s nice to see this recognition from Fast Company.”

Crown has been recognized for its design since the 1960s and has earned more than 50 design awards. For example, Crown is a frequent winner in the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) annual International Design Excellence Award(IDEA) that recognizes companies for design excellence. Crown has received 6 consecutive and 19 overall IDEA awards. No other company has won more IDEAs in the Commercial and Industrial Equipment category in the last 11 years than Crown Equipment.

The IDSA IDEA program receives thousands of product submissions from countries as far-reaching as Japan, Croatia, Brazil and New Zealand. With a continuing upward trend in international participation, the IDEA program highlights the best in design from around the world.

An avid golfer, his friends believe his first question to St. Peter was: “Where is the first tee, and what is the course record?” Mr. Rush is survived by his wife Paulette, children Paul, Todd and Lisa, and nine grandchildren.

“It’s really a phenomenal safety accomplishment for our employees, especially in a metal fabrication environment such as ours,” says Glenn Thiede, vice president of manufacturing. “It’s a testament to our employees’ great safety habits and truly watching out for one another while performing their jobs.  I’m proud of our employees and all the hard work that they did to accomplish this great safety record.”

New London Plant Manager Steve Krueger adds, “This accomplishment is 100 percent due to the safety awareness, efforts and involvement of our employees.  Management has been here for support, but the employees made it happen.  This is a first in my 30 years at Steel King.”

“Safety is very important to everybody connected to Steel King Industries”, according to Jay Anderson, president. “While eliminating the pain and cost of injuries is reason enough to be focused on the issue, everyone, including our customers, benefits from keeping our skilled and experienced workforce actively contributing to our quality and on-time product. We introduced the ‘big ticket’ safety incentive a few years ago, to provide an extra level of motivation to make safety happen on a daily basis.”  In honor of the milestone, every Steel King employee at the New London facility received a sweatshirt marking the occasion, and their names were entered into a drawing for their choice of a fishing boat with motor and trailer or a four wheel drive ATV.

A spokesperson for All Lift Service says, “We are very pleased to be adding to our distributor family a strong material handling house in All Lift Service. In business since 1972, their proven longevity demonstrates they have a business model that is time-tested and works. Being in the Cleveland market for 39 years certainly qualifies them as a known material handling entity and gives Clark a real boost in a territory that contains so much potential. If there is a forklift user in Cleveland, All Lift most likely worked with them at one time or another. We look forward to supporting the Gelsimino family and their staff as they begin to focus their day-to-day sales activities on the promotion of Clark new equipment and services.”

All Lift Service will support Clark sales and service activities out of their facility located at 4607 Hamann Parkway, Willoughby, OH, 44094.